Makeup
by RamblingPug
Summary: <html><head></head>'Ok, she may have made a tiny mistake, a case of poor judgment, you can call it, but it was one of the few occasions where she had succumbed to her emotions, pure relief and joy flooding her brain because Eren was alive and he had blocked the hole,the Survey Corps were granted custody of him, and he was going to be okay;that she had just stopped thinking. And kissed him.'</html>


A/N : This was written for Eremika week 2014, day 1.

Mikasa stands at the door, getting slightly impatient because Levi is taking his own sweet time to verify the quality of her clean-up mission, casually unconcerned that it is dinner time and that if she doesn't hurry to the mess hall soon, everyone else will be done eating, and Sasha will have probably cleaned out the kitchen.

She hopes that Eren or Armin have the good sense to save her a bread roll because Levi definitely doesn't believe in haste when it comes to cleaning._Eren?_Who was she even kidding? There was no way he would be saving her dinner, or even waiting for her, going by his behavior these past few weeks.

Okay so she might have made a tiny mistake, a case of poor judgment, you can call it, but it was one of the few occasions where she had succumbed to her emotions, pure relief and joy flooding her brain because Eren was alive and he had blocked the hole,the Survey Corps were granted custody of him, and he was going to be okay that she had just stoped thinking for a moment. And _kissed_ him.

And he hadn't seemed to hate it. At least not till a moment later when he had pushed himself off of her, apologized profusely for nothing that he had done, and _literally_ran away from her.

This she can deal with. No, this isn't even her biggest concern right now. She would love to talk to him, tell him she's sorry, that it was a mistake, even though it probably wasn't, and that it won't happen again.

She would love to tell him all of this if only he would just stop avoiding her like the plague and running away each time he sees her.

She narrows her eyes at Levi when he dismisses her looking as unapologetic as ever. It isn't his fault she is so high strung though, and she knows it.

No, the reason she even landed up with cleaning duty today, was because of Eren.

It was a rather stupid idea, in hindsight, but she had really thought that if she volunteers for cleaning duty with Eren today, she would get a chance to confront him. She hadn't thought that she would get stuck with the entire thing herself.

As expected, the mess hall is empty and the kitchen seems to have winded up too and Mikasa is pretty sure she has learnt her lesson about volunteering for cleaning duty under Levi.

She makes her way to Krista's room, hoping, praying almost, that she has flicked an extra bread roll tonight and that she would be kind enough to give it to her. And after that she was going to face Eren. She has had enough of this stupid game of hide-and-seek, because honestly, this is so frivolous an issue, that she is willing to pretend none of it ever happened if it will make him talk to her again.

She raps at the door, wondering why Krista is taking so long to open because she can hear voices from the inside. She knows it's probably rude to eavesdrop but upon closer inspection she realizes one of the voices is definitely male.

It is probably just Reiner, she thinks, because he is always taking every opportunity, when Ymir isn't around to get close to Krista. The tiny blonde should really learn how to say no, because if she keeps up with this, Ymir is going to get mighty pissed and that might have some disastrous consequences.

Normally Mikasa wouldn't bother because it really isn't any of her business, but she doesn't exactly feel like sunshine today and _somebody_ should probably tell him to buzz off. Armed with a few choice words and a mean punch that will be thrown if need be, she pushes open the door.

"Mikasa!" Krista squeaks, alarmed, because it turns out she really hadn't heard the knock on the door.

Mikasa stares straight ahead, because _man, _this isn't Reiner, this is the _last _person she was expecting to see, especially in Krista's room.

"Eren," she manages flatly, her eyes narrowing, trying not to let her face betray the shock that she feels at seeing Eren perched on Krista's bed right next to her. Maybe she should use that punch after all.

She looks at him, his green eyes wide and a little nervous even, the same look he would always have when his mom would catch him sneaking an extra portion of dessert. She can feel her fists clenching. _Why does he look so guilty?_

Ignoring the questions running through her mind, she turns towards Krista. "I was wondering if you had anything left over from dinner?" She exhales, trying to calm herself because yes, this is stupid, there is no point getting so worked up over someone who doesn't care enough to sort things out.

Mikasa smiles gratefully at Krista as she hands her the food because it is difficult to bear any feelings of ill-will towards the blonde, even if she was just out of her mind with jealousy two minutes ago.

She looks at Eren, who is looking down now, _he isn't even able to look me in the eyes, _she thinks and suddenly everything makes sense to her.

So _that's _why he pushed her away when she tried to kiss him. Because there was already someone else.

She feels beyond stupid, her cheeks burning are burning with the humiliation of this realization, and she wants to just run out of the room.

"Thanks for the food," she says hurriedly, because she needs to get out of here immediately, "I'm sorry for interrupting."

"Interrupting?" she can hears Krista say, but she is already out of the room. For a second it seems like Eren is calling her name and asking her to wait, which is strange it is the first time Eren is asking her to wait but it's probably just her mind playing tricks on her so she continues, her pace turning into a sprint till she reaches the mess hall.

She leans against the wall, and takes a deep breath. _I can't do this, _she thinks, sliding down to the floor, because it really feels like doesn't have the energy for this anymore. It's okay, somethings don't need to be talked about, she can just pretend none of that ever happened.

There was no overwhelming moment when she realized she had been in love with him since the day he had rescued her, there was no kiss between them, there was no tiny spark that she felt when his lips had moved against hers there was nothing. Right?

Tears mixed with the bread definitely don't taste good she thinks, swallowing the bitter mixture and wiping away the evidence of her momentary weakness. She rests her head on her knees, her head decidedly heavy under the weight of her thoughts.

Faintly her brain registers the noise of footsteps coming down the stairs. It doesn't matter, she thinks, the mess hall is dark and no one will find her in this corner anyway, so she doesn't make the effort to get up.

"Mikasa," comes an urgent voice, trying not to be loud, because they weren't supposed to be wandering out at this hour. She can tell who that voice belongs to instantly because only one person says her name in that way, like a mumble, trying to get all the syllables out at once. She hadn't realized till now, how much she liked it.

He looks around and spots her against the wall, hugging her knees, and walks over to her. It was stupid to think she could hide from him. She should know by now that Eren would find her just about anywhere.

He stands next to her and waits for her to look up. She's being stubborn, he realizes, because there is no one more aware of her surroundings than Mikasa.

He seats himself on the floor next to her and blushes when his arm brushes hers, because the plan was to sit next to her, not to stick to her like some creep. He can feel her shift in reaction to his presence.

Eren waits for her to say something, because there are so many words inside which just refuse to come out. Realizing that this is entire exercise is pointless, he nudges her, clutching at the item in his left fist.

"Mikasa," he says, again, but this time she looks up. A small part of him is relieved. He knows how misleading the scene from earlier would have looked and he had thought she might never even want to look at him again.

Her eyes are shining against the ray of moonlight that passes through the window and he can see that they are just a tad wet and he doesn't like it. She looks into his eyes and he is powerless again, his words are stuck in his throat and he knows that if he leaves it like this this isn't going to go anywhere.

But she beats him to it. "I'm sorry," she says and her voice sounds softer than he has heard in ages.

He blinks, he has no idea what she's apologizing for. HE should be the one saying sorry, after the way he's been treating her, not to mention her finding him in Krista's room like that.

"I didn't know…" she murmurs. "About you and Krista. I shouldn't have just entered like that." She looks at him, her smile almost watery. "I thought it was Reiner and that I should probably save her from him." Her voice shakes with a laugh as if to say _I should have known, _and he doesn't like it.

He doesn't like her looking that way, so sad, and he definitely doesn't like her talking about him and Krista like that… like they're even a _thing._Things would be a hell of a lot easier if he could just explain himself. But how? He was always good with words but when it comes to Mikasa, he can never bring himself to just say what he feels.

Unable to look at her, he thrusts the tiny bottle that he was holding into her hand and mumbles, "There is no 'Me and Krista'. So don't say that."

Mikasa was confused. It had definitely looked like there had been something. She looks at what the strange pink bottle that he has given her.

"Eren," she says, not knowing how to feel about this, "Is this make up?!"

He nods. "I saw Krista applying this the other day… She said that if you wear this stuff, then your scars don't show as much."

He looks at her, properly, for the first time since the day she kissed him. He winces as his eyes skim over the large welt on her left cheekbone. Every time he sees it he is reminded of the fact that _he _is the one who hurt her. And when she kissed him and he ran his fingers over her face, he was awash with the shame and the self-hatred that came along with the acknowledgement that he was a monster. He was a monster, who could forget everything, and even hurt the one girl whom he wished to protect.

It had made him sick to his stomach. So he had run away. And avoided her. Avoided looking at her, avoided seeing the face that would wake him up every morning and look out for him every second of the day.

Till he saw Krista applying the pink lotion on her face. "You can take it any time you'd like," she had offered generously, despite wondering why in the world Eren would possibly want concealing lotion.

"I don't understand," Mikasa says, "You ran away from me, you've been ignoring me for _weeks," you visit Krista in her room, _she wants to add, but she doesn't, " and now you're giving me make up?"

"Just put on the stupid lotion," he says irritatedly, his voice bordering a yell.

Well _hell, _if he is going to make such a big deal out of a stupid bottle of lotion then so be it, because she definitely had no idea what it has to do with him ignoring her. She opens the lid, rubs the pink fluid onto her palms and haphazardly spreads it all over her face.

"There," she says exasperatedly, "Are you happy now?"

He grits his teeth, this girl is going to drive him _crazy. _"You idiot," he mutters, "don't you know how to use this stuff?! You're supposed to be a girl!" He grabs the bottle back from her and squeezes a dollop of lotion onto his palm. "I asked you to put it on your scar," he says, his voice softer now, leaning towards her face and rubbing the lotion onto her injured cheekbone.

She winces at the contact against her bruised skin.

He recoils at her reaction, frustrated and repulsed because it had been weeks and it was _still_ hurting her. He looks at her cheek hoping that the lotion would have covered it but it wasn't a magic eraser, it had made it lighter but if you looked close enough, you could see it.

And from Eren's vantage point you could see it just fine.

"How the hell am I supposed to kiss you like this?" he says, his frustration seeping into his voice, "How am I supposed to kiss you when every time I touch your cheek all I am reminded of is how badly I hit you?"

He closes his eyes, resting his forehead against hers, and Mikasa can feel his lips just inches away from hers, his breath warm on her skin. "How can I even look at you when all I can see on your beautiful face is evidence that I hurt you?"

"Eren," she says, her voice nothing more than a broken whisper. She angles her mouth towards his but he maintains the distance between their mouths. "You're hurting me now," she says, the pain obvious in her voice, because that is the truth. Every time he looks away from her it hurts. Every time he avoids her, it aches so much, it is almost impossible to bear.

And that pain is _far _worse than the tangible sensitiveness of her bruise.

Slowly, he lifts his mouth and brushes it against her cheek, his lips soft against the broken skin of her bruise and this time when he kisses her, it is like a promise, as if to say that he will never hurt again, like a balm that wraps around her, soothing every single misplaced ache in her heart.

..

..

..

Petra peeks out of the door, looking both ways to make sure the coast is clear. It is a pain being so secretive and having her room at the other end of the floor, but Levi is too attached to his room to shift.

Sighing, she walks into the dinner hall, because Levi is _exhausting _and she could really use a drink of water before going to bed.

When she enters the hall, she thanks the Gods that all her shenanigans with Levi had taught her to bite back her screams because if she hadn't held back right now, the entire floor would have woken up.

"Eren!" she whispers, blushing furiously, "Mikasa! You two better run to your rooms this instant, _separate rooms, _mind you, before Levi heichou finds you!"

A/N : Okay lol, I don't know what that last bit was about, maybe I just felt uncomfortable with the sappy ending. :P  
>HAPPY EREMIKA WEEK EVERYONE!<p>

And tell me what you think? :)


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